


Exasperation

by orphan_account



Category: Pikmin (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, also i felt the hocotatians deserved an equivalent to the koppad, because you can't tell me her Behavior in the emails didn't cause some rocks in their relationship, toa is the wife, which is what a hocpad is, yoyo's the son and shishi's the daughter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 05:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16737985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After Olimar's long-awaited return to Hocotate, his relationship with his wife hits some rocks.





	Exasperation

It should have been a happy occasion.

The fact that, after all these weeks, after all these times he risked his life, he  _finally_ got a few weeks off- given the President's sheer desperation in some later e-mails, he guessed it was out of gratitude- should have been a good thing, it should have been tearful reunions and starry-eyed stares as he told his stories- and most of all, Toa's embrace.

But Toa had crossed a line in his absence.

Olimar grumbled to himself as he passed the time of a particularly long red light during his trip from the company building back home by scrolling through the e-mails he had gotten while on that hellish planet.

_Mama is being mean. Every day I go to school. I want to be a great lady. But I'm so, so tired... Brother is always crying. Growing up isn't any fun at all...  
_

_Papa! Hurry up and come home! Mama is so nuts! Every day, she orders me to study, study, study! She’s even thinking about sending our dog, Bulbie, to the circus! Help!  
_

_Hey, hon! I'm on a solo vacation right now. Beach by day, theater at night. Ahhh, life is grand! And don't worry, the kids are in school every night until 10! Wheeeeee!  
_

_Papa!!! This is awful! Mama threw away all of my games! Seems like every time money comes in, she gets meaner! I want the old Mama back...  
_

_Hey, Papa. I do nothing but study. I hate it. Please co-  
_

**_S M A S H !_ **

Olimar screamed in frustration as he smashed his HocPad against the dashboard, unable to take another second of it. How  _could_  she be so  _goddamn selfish?! **This wasn’t the woman he mar-**_

A honk from behind him brought him back to reality, and he shook his head. He could deal with this when he got home.

 

* * *

“Mama! Sister! Look who it is!!”

Yoyo’s excited voice woke up his sister, who had dozed off while waiting next to the window, and alerted Toa, who was in the middle of making the soup Olimar had loved so much, and as the mother dashed to the window, all three gasped. Just as he’d told Yoyo and Shishi, he’d come home!

It was just when they’d collectively finished that thought when the door opened, and the two children perked up and rushed to the door. 

"Papa!!" they cheered as they hopped up and down, Shishi hugging her father's legs and Yoyo tugging his shirt to beckon him down. He was in no mood for this as he normally would be, but for his kids' sake, he bent down to reciprocate the hug- the speed at which he pulled away was a red flag to them both.

From there, if Olimar was in his regular state of mind, he would have touched noses with his wife- the Hocotatian equivalent of a kiss- and followed the family to the living room to tell them all about his dangerous adventure with the loyal Pikmin- but right now, there was  _something_ that needed addressing.

“... I’m going to need a moment alone with your mother,” he said, his smile forced as he took his wife by the hand and dragged her into their room with uncharacteristic forcefulness. The moment the door shut- he surprised himself by mustering the self-control not to slam it- the smile fell, revealing a harsh glare that just didn’t fit on the normally kind-hearted man’s face.

“Toa,” he began before she could even question what this was about, his voice dripping with as much uncharacteristic anger as his body language, “what the  _fuck?”_

Toa jumped, instinctively recoiling as her ears pinned themselves back- Olimar almost never swore.

"Listen, okay, you were  _stressed._ I get it. That  _doesn't_ give you the right," he snapped, his attempts at volume control beginning to fail him, fists clenched as he took a step toward Toa, "to  _take it out on the kids!"_

It wasn't a question what he was talking about. 

Toa opened her mouth to say something, anything, but was immediately cut off, not in any state to listen to reason. "You get a couple goddamn bonus checks, and suddenly you're leaving the kids to work nonstop while you take away everything they  _fucking love!"_ Such a familiar predicament to him, one he wouldn't wish on anybody, let alone his  _own children,_ and this woman he thought he could trust-

"... You're right."

Olimar paused. That wasn't what he was expecting to hear- he thought she'd try to defend herself somehow, make some pisspoor attempt at justifying her cruelty. Instead, though, he saw Toa unable to look him in the eyes, instead glancing away toward the ground with her hands behind her back.

"I was a terrible mother, and nothing can excuse the things I did. I know that. I've been working to make it up to them, but..." Her voice started to crack. "If none of you choose to forgive me, that's fine too."

Well, that was one way to make a raging Olimar stop dead. He started visibly calming down, his stance loosening and fists unclenching, and finally he shook his head. "I need some time to myself."

"Of course," Toa replied, her head down as she started walking out of their room without another word, looking back briefly as she opened the door to see Olimar already laying down. Poor dear must be exhausted... Maybe they could talk about this more once he was better rested.

* * *

"M-mama...?" Shishi whimpered as soon as Toa returned to the living room. "What's wrong with Papa?"

Oh, great. They'd heard their argument (if it could be called that- she couldn't think of a better word, though), as if they weren't stressed enough already. Toa shook her head and sighed- she didn't want to bring this up, but she couldn't just brush it off with an _oh, it's nothing_ either. She had to be honest with them; it's the least they deserved.

"... You remember when I'd gotten all crazy and mean?" She practically spat that sentence out, wanting to just get it over with, and the kids reluctantly nodded. "Your father's really mad at me for that."

"He is?" Yoyo echoed. "But you said you were sorry."

"Yeah, well... sorry doesn't always cut it. Especially when you do _really_ bad things like that." Important life lesson there, too. "I know you can't wait to see him again, but he needs a little time. Can you wait a little longer for him?"

Both kids nodded, and Toa paused a little longer to plan her next sentence out. "Also... can you do him a favor and pretend you don't know about what just happened? He... wouldn't want to worry you guys."

Shishi looked worried. "But... isn't lying bad?"

"Most of the time, yes... but sometimes, some truths are better off going untold. I find that as you get older, you get better at finding out which truths these are." (She would know, but that wasn't a concern for anyone but herself.)

"O...okay." A pause. "Mama?"

"Yes, Shishi?"

"I think you forgot about the soup."

Toa couldn't help a snort in response- maybe things were going back to normal. She'd just have to see when Olimar woke up, but for now, she booked it to the kitchen- oh, great, the soup's overcooked. Time to try again...

* * *

It was the crack of dawn the next morning when Olimar woke up, instinctively reaching for his helmet and mentally preparing himself for another day of-

... oh. Right. It wasn't the shitty sleeping bag he was sleeping in last night, it was the soft and comfortable bed he shared with Toa.

Wait. Toa. She wasn't in bed next to him.

Shit.

His first day back, and he'd screamed at her. Sure, she'd done something really fucked up, but she apologized sincerely, she was sorry, she was trying to make up for it, he shouldn't have lost his temper, she probably thought he hated her, his first day back and he'd ruined everything. Still, he was so accustomed to waking with the sun that he couldn't go back to sleep now, and so accustomed to compartmentalizing away his stress that he had the grief shoved away for now as he got up to make his morning coffee.

There was no suit he had to change into, no colleague to wake up (he briefly wondered how Louie was doing, if he was coping okay after- no, don't think about that), just... his old routine, for a few weeks, and as soon as he left the room quite a bit of weight left his shoulders- Toa had merely been sleeping on the couch. Of course. If she had been the one angry at him, he would have given her some space and slept on the couch, too. Why did he have to assume the worst?

It would be best not to wake her up, not after last night. It wouldn't take her long to awaken on her own, either; she always had been an early riser, and until lately she'd often make jokes about him sleeping in. Guess that wasn't happening anymore, what with the fact that he'd had waking up this early ingrained into him by now.

Indeed, it was when he discovered the soup she'd made last night after throwing the burnt batch in the trash and was heating it up that a groggy Toa entered the kitchen for her own coffee. Olimar looked over at her nervously, about to say something, when he got cut off.

"No need to apologize. You were right."

"But- but I still lost my temper. It wasn't right for me to  _scream_ at you."

"And it wasn't right for _me_ to mistreat the kids, so I guess we're even."

The husband paused after that, registering the mutual forgiveness. It'd been their first major fight- if he could even call it that- in years; at least it hadn't gotten horribly out of hand. Finally, he shook his head. "If you pull anything like that again, I'll kick your ass."

"I would be disappointed if you didn't."

**Author's Note:**

> Mrrrh I'm not really proud of this one? Ah well.


End file.
